Cleary tipping Origin stars to return with a bang

Panthers coach Ivan Cleary expects the pain of losing the Origin decider will help drive his New South Wales representatives when they return to the field on Saturday against the in-form Sharks. 

After keeping all seven of his Origin players out of last Sunday’s 18-16 victory over the Wests Tigers – prompting claims of disrespect from his counterpart Brett Kimmorley – Cleary instructed the players to stay away from rugby league and not return to training until Thursday this week.

The Premiership-winning coach said the pain of an Origin series loss will have only made the group more eager to perform well in the NRL arena.

“[They will grow] a lot, there’s only one way to get that experience,” Cleary said.

“What we’re hoping for is that it fuels the fire in those boys, obviously the Origin series is gone this year.

That’s exactly what I thought watching that game, that the experience will only help them.

Ivan Cleary

“I know all those boys pretty well and I think they’ll all be thinking the same thing.”

Cleary also rubbished Kimmorley’s idea that Penrith had taken the 16th-placed side lightly. 

Penrith had looked set to suffer just their second loss of the season when they trailed 16-12 with eight minutes to go, before a converted try ensured they extended their lead at the top of the Telstra Premiership ladder to eight points.

“I don’t think we could win so many games over the last few years if we disrespected anybody,” Cleary said.

“We put a lot of work into that game.

“The decision first and foremost was for [the players], they are obviously really important to our team and that’s why we rested them.

“Did we think we could win without them? Well, yeah we did, but it was always going to be difficult. That’s why we put so much work into that.

“Credit to the boys that played to get the job done.”

The clash against the third-placed Sharks at BlueBet Stadium shapes as one of the game’s of the round, with Cronulla riding a five-game winning streak which stretches back to the end of May.

While the Panthers have the best attack in the competition, the Sharks have leaked an average of just 10 points per game in their last five matches, and Cleary said they’ll present a real challenge. 

“[Cronulla have been] really good, really good, they’ve beaten Melbourne and the Cowboys the last couple of weeks,” he said.

“They’ve just been ticking off wins, finding ways to win, they win differently.

“They definitely throw a lot at you, the Sharks have been like that for a few years now, but this year their defence is definitely better too.”

The loss of Mate Ma’a Tonga winger Sione Katoa to a season-ending pectoral injury will see a reshuffle of Cronulla’s right edge, with Connor Tracey named in his place.